The first that I heard of Canada's POWDER BLUES was in or about 1980 when I heard one of
their tunes, What Have I Been Drinkingbeing played by local Sydney outfit, the
LAYABOUTS. It was being sung by the lead
guitarist, Gary DALE who later became a mainstay in the first
line-up of my own band, BEACHHEAD.
Though I was still a few years away from
actually hearing the band themselves.
In 1987 I was asked to join a band from Dubbo (about
230 miles west of Sydney) calling themselves
'the Downtown Blues Band'. Among their repertoire
at the time were Oh Well, Oh Well, Stoop Down Baby, Tore Down and Good Riffin' Tonight (an instrumental they'd concocted from Good Rockin' Tonight). All tracks that appeared on Red Hot/True Blue - Powder Blues double vinyl set from 1983.
An album that I later managed to find in
a record shop more by accident than good
management. Though only in the single vinyl
release with about half the tunes missing.
Then in November 1989 I drove down to Melbourne
to sing at the Melbourne Homegrown Blues
Festival and discovered that the saxophonist
in the band was an avid fan of Powder Blues
and also had a video of them performing at
the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland
in 1983. He was kind enough to lend me the
tape, which by that time was no longer available
in Australia. This is now available through
their merchandise pages in VHS-NTSC format
and on DVD.
In 1990 I managed to contact bandleader,
Tom Lavin by post after finding the address
on the back of their album cover and he sent
me a cassette of their Montreux performance
which was later, unfortunately, to disappear
into the collection of someone with very
light fingers indeed.
We've kept in touch, after a fashion, since
then and when I eventually managed to go
'on-line' in early 2001 one of the first
'links' that put on my site was that of POWDER BLUES. A few months back, in about February 2004,
I was browsing their site and had occasion
to contact Tom who informed me that he was
coming to OZ & New Zealand for a short
holiday because they'd just finished recording
their second 'big band-style jazz/blues'
album and that it would be released in the
very near future.
They'd released the first of this style album
in January 2002 (Swingin' the Blues) and now, two years on, comes a second helping
with the release of BLAZZ.
My copy arrived in the mail yesterday morning
(June 17, 2004) and I have had nothing else
on the deck since. It's a delight!

The disc opens with a Lavin 'original' Cooking With the Blues, a swinging 'jump' blues reminiscent of
the genre's greatest exponents, Louis Jordan
and Louis Prima and with lyrics that bring
back memories of Jordan's Saturday Night Fish Fry. A nice tenor saxophone solo from Jerry
Cook.
Next up is the Boz Scaggs penned Runnin' Blue. This a beautiful loping 'big band' blues
with a lovely guitar solo from Tom and his
voice bringing back images, for this reviewer
at least, of the late and very great Joe
Williams and Al Hibbler. Both of whom sang
with the Count Basie Band in the past. If
you've never heard either of these gentlemen,
then you've missed a very great deal.Well Do It, another self-penned gem, is up next and
features a short sharp tenor solo again from
Jerry Cook and some fine vocals from Tom
Lavin.Things Are Getting Better written by Julian 'Cannonball' Adderley
and the great Eddie Jefferson is next in
the queue and is an absolute delight. Tom
once again sounds very much like Joe Williams
as he attempts the 'vocalese' of Jefferson
and succeeds mightily. There is a lightness
in his delivery that is rare these days.
His vocal turnaround at the back end is damn
near perfection. The alto saxophone solo
from longtime PB member, Bill Runge is very
reminiscent of the great Phil Woods (bop
player extraordinaire) and Tom's guitar solo
reminds me a little of jazz great Kenny Burrell
who penned such tunes as Chitlins Con Carne (a blues band staple).Send Out For A Bucket Of Beer written by the same Buddy Johnson who penned
the classic Since I Fell For You, is a departure in feel from the 'blues'
(per se) and has the inherent feel of the great
bigs bands from the 'swing era'. Tom's delivery
is fairly reminiscent here of some of the
best big band vocalsits. Jerry Cook's tenor
solo has the rich, resonant full tone of
a Coleman Hawkins. Superbly done!Take the 'A' Train, the Ellington Orchestra classic from the
pen of Billy Strayhorn, is next up and is
treated to a refreshingly different than
the standard approach. While the band delivers
the lines almost verbatim (a la Ellington), we are treated to a display of Lavin's
vocal dexterity and skill. Lavin is not your
average 'blues' singer and would be quite
at home in a purely 'jazz' environment. The
lyrics are a direct grab from an old Eddie
Jefferson album that Tom has, or had in his
own collection and he treats the memory of
the father of 'vocalese' with all the respect
that he is due. While all this is going on,
the band's ensemble playing in the background
is impeccable.Ain't That Loving You (D. Malone) has echoes of the Basie Band
and even the Kansas City Blue Devils with
its hard swinging and good rockin' rhythm
section and biting horn lines. Add to this
the easy swinging approach of Tom Lavin's
vocals and you've got another classic in
the making. There is one hell of a nice and
very sweet sounding guitar solo from Tom
too!Let's Get Loose (Tom Lavin) is a good rockin' blues punctuated
with short sharp bursts of ensemble horns
and a guitar solo that wouldn't have been
out of place in a distantly remembered track
from one of my more favoured seventies band
'Pablo Cruise'.Disappearing Baby Blues (Tom Lavin) jumps - hard! Shades of Louis
Prima with great ensemble work, a solid rhythm
section, short but sweet guitar solo and
playful lyrics.Blame It On The Blues (Tom Lavin) swings from start to finish
and is typical of what we've come to expect
of the band since its inception. The only
solo is one of Tom's economical and tasty
trademarks. The piano, bass and drums are
both tight and spacious with nobody getting
in the way!
The purely instrumental Swami Swing (Tom Lavin) ends the set and allows the
band to take it home in fine style. It is
guitar driven and has Tom playing some fine
licks, ably supported by the horn section,
some beautiful piano comping in the back
ground from Miles Black, the bass and drums
of Bill Runge and Bill Hicks respectively
pushing the tempo in the back and spirited
solos from Mike Kalanj on Hammond organ (shades
of Jimmy Smith) and Ross Taggart on tenor
saxophone. I suspect that this tune may be
an old and dear friend after noticing the
photograph of a chalkboard drawing on the
back cover of Red Hot/True Blue.

Even if you've never heard of POWDER BLUES in your past, this album is definitely one
for the collection.BLAZZ is their twelfth album to date and definitely
set to be one of, if not their best of the
past 25 years.

Rod 'BEACHHEAD' Jeffery
June 18th, 2004

Copies can be had by logging onto the band's
merchandise page at http://www.powderblues.net/merchandise.html.
It will cost you USD20.00 (about AUD30.00)
inclusive of P&H.Payment methods are via VISA, MasterCard or International Money Order if you live outside the U.S. or Canada.
If you live within the U.S. or Canada you
may also use Personal Checks/Cheques.